Known systems and methods for measuring aircraft tire pressures and wheel speeds require wiring to be run from a control unit inside the aircraft down a landing gear strut and into the inside of an axle. Holes have to be made in a landing gear beam to accommodate the wiring that runs from an antiskid system and tire pressure indication system mounted inside the axle to the control unit. This wiring is costly, weight intensive, adds complexity to the installation of the monitoring systems, and can make a significant contribution to aerodynamic noise and drag.
In addition to the problems presented by the wiring, known systems often have difficulty transmitting signals across a rotating interface between the stationary axle and a revolving wheel. For example, to transmit power to, and data from, a tire pressure sensor mounted in a wheel rim, known designs utilize mechanical couplings between a hubcap and an axle-mounted wheel speed transducer, and between the hubcap and a mechanically driven, rotating transformer. Furthermore, known systems are prone to mechanical wear and are very sensitive to backlash that can degrade the performance of an aircraft's antiskid braking system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to eliminate the problems of known systems caused by the heavy, complex mechanical components mounted inside the aircraft axle and hubcap and the wiring running from the landing gear to the control unit. It would further be desirable to replace the present hardwired system with a wireless system that transmits data and information from electrical components inside the aircraft hubcap to the control unit inside the aircraft.